Understand movement.
20 evidence-based articles on gait, muscle, balance, posture and mobility.
Locomotive Syndrome: Japan named the problem.
Understand Locomotive Syndrome, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association framework, and the Stand-Up, Two-Step and GLFS-25 assessments.
Walking is data.
Why gait speed and walking patterns can provide useful information about whole-body function and mobility.
The biomechanics of aging.
How gait strategy, ankle propulsion and joint mechanics can change with age.
The Cone of Economy.
Postural balance, compensation and the energetic cost of standing: from Dubousset’s concept to measurement.
Sarcopenia: strength before mass.
Why contemporary European consensus places low muscle strength at the centre of sarcopenia assessment.
The chair-rise test.
What repeated chair rises can reveal about lower-limb function, strength and movement control.
Muscle power: strength is only part of the equation.
Why the speed at which force is produced matters for physical function with age.
Balance is a sensory system before it is a posture.
Vision, vestibular input, proprioception and motor control work together to stabilise the body.
Why am I walking more slowly than before?
Why walking speed can decline with age and what step length, balance and muscle power can tell us.
Why is it harder to stand up from a chair?
Chair rise requires strength, power, balance and coordination. Understand why it can become more difficult.
Why can my gait become asymmetric?
Gait asymmetry can involve stance time, step length, propulsion or joint motion. Understand what it means and its limits.
How can I test my mobility at home?
Simple ways to document walking, chair rise and functional mobility at home, and the limits of self-assessment.
Why can we lean further forward when walking?
How the spine, pelvis and lower limbs interact in sagittal balance and forward-trunk posture.
Why are my steps getting shorter?
Why step length may decrease with age and how speed, balance and propulsion contribute.
Why do stairs become more difficult?
Stair climbing requires strength, power, balance and functional reserve. Understand why it may become harder with age.
Why do my legs feel weaker?
Why lower-limb strength can decrease with age and how muscle, neural activation and activity contribute.
Why do I use my arms to stand up?
Using armrests changes chair-rise mechanics and can reduce the demand placed on the lower limbs.
What is a “normal” walking speed for my age?
Reference gait-speed values are useful, but age, sex, protocol and testing distance all influence interpretation.
Why am I tripping more often?
Tripping can involve foot clearance, gait variability, attention and balance. Understand the mechanisms without self-diagnosing.
How can I preserve mobility as I age?
What systematic reviews say about strength, balance, walking and multicomponent exercise for maintaining mobility.